Jealousy Burns Brighter Than Love
by Hollymist
Summary: Naruto gets a girlfriend and Sasuke finds himself getting jealous, and wanting Naruto for himself, but there's no way Naruto would ever agree, meaning Sasuke has to resort to force. SasuNaru, Yaoi.
1. Chapter 1

So, I've recently become obsessed with the wonderful thing that is yaoi, especially SasuNaru, so I'm writing a story! Yay for me!

So this is before Sasuke became evil (mainly because I've actually only watched like 50 episodes so that hasn't happened yet for me xD)

And just a heads up, the first chapter isn't too great and there's no actual yaoi (D:) but stick with me and I promise it'll get better with some real SasuNaru xDD

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><p>The first thing Sasuke heard was the rumours. They danced around the village in undertones of shock and bewilderment. Everywhere you turned, someone was mentioning the news that had stunned even the wildlife.<p>

"Have you heard?" Each gossiper would ask excitedly. "Naruto has a girlfriend!"

At first Sasuke didn't believe it; rumours about Naruto were hardly ever true, but unlike the others which had blazed brightly then died out quickly, this one grew and grew.

Each time it would change slightly, from the girl being a 19 year old supermodel, to her being a supernatural being that Naruto had bewitched, but one thing never changed: Sasuke's intense displeasure at the idea of Naruto having a girlfriend.

He didn't know what it was about the idea that repulsed him so much, it was just that every time he thought about a girl holding him or kissing him, a murky anger swelled up in his chest and temples, and he found his shoulders and fists clenching involuntary.

_Pull yourself together!_ Sasuke hissed at himself, as he passed another group of gossiping girls. He was heading over to the market, where he bought all the ingredients for dinner.

He stopped as he reached the stall to buy swede, and brought out his money.

"Well hey Sasuke, heard the news about our Naruto?" Ichiro, the owner, asked. He was a nice enough old man, and he generally got along well with Sasuke, but after hearing this comment Sasuke could've easily sworn a blood feud against him.

"I don't care for rumours." Sasuke muttered through clenched teeth. He handed the money over abruptly, then grabbed a swede and stormed off.

He walked briskly down the street; he couldn't get his muscles to relax or the blood through his head to stop thumping.

He turned into an alleyway and leaned against a wall, attempting to pull himself together. He closed his eyes and forced his breathing into a relaxed rhythm. He managed to get his body to stop twitching, but his head was racing with confused and angry thoughts.

_What's happening to me? _Was all Sasuke could think. He didn't give a shit about what Naruto did normally, why now? Was he jealous that he'd gotten a girlfriend before him? No way, Sasuke knew that he could get any girl he wanted. Could it be that he disliked the idea that Naruto was capable of impressing the opposite sex? _Fff no way, that isn't a real reason!_ But no matter how hard he racked his buzzing brain, Sasuke couldn't think of any other reasons to explain his intense involuntary emotions.

Except…

Sasuke let out a startled cry as the idea passed his mind. His eyes were wide and flaming as he stared downwards.

He felt like throwing up. He banged his head against the swede clasped in his sweaty palms, as though he was trying to knock the perverted and highly nauseating thought out of his head.

Had he really just considered that the reason he was angry wasn't because he was jealous of Naruto, but that he was jealous of…his girlfriend?

"Argh!" Sasuke exploded and threw the swede on the ground before running out of the alleyway. Now that he'd considered it, the idea wouldn't leave him alone, but each time became more and more perverted.

Him hugging Naruto…

Him kissing Naruto…

Him spooning Naruto…

Him having sex with Naruto-

"Aaargh!"Sasuke screamed, tearing at his sweaty black hair. He was hunched over in the middle of a street, with everyone staring at him. His whole body was trembling and his bottom lip quivered.

_What the fuck is wrong with me? I hate Naruto! And I'm a guy! I was thinking about him naked!_ Sasuke felt as though his whole world was crumbling beneath him; there was just no way this was happening. The idea of falling in love with a girl was so ridiculous it seemed incomprehensible, so the idea of falling in love with a _guy _seemed impossible, meaning that even the _idea_ of him falling in love with _Naruto_ meant that the world was surely ending.

Sasuke attempted to collect himself. He breathed slowly then looked up to see everyone was still staring at him. He ignored them and continued walking home.

XXXX

Sasuke went hungry that night. The only item he'd bought for cooking he'd thrown away, plus his stomach was still churning with nausea.

He'd ran himself a hot bath and used it to calm himself and work out what was happening to him.

After nearly a half hour of debating whether or not he'd actually fallen in love with Naruto, he had finally accepted it. He realised that the idea of him kissing or touching Naruto didn't make him feel ill, but _excited_. It gave him an anxious, swirly feeling in the pit of his stomach, and made other areas hot and bubbly.

_Plus, being gay might be an explanation as to why none of the stupid girls in his class had ever interested me,_ Sasuke thought as he dried himself. _And that time I nearly killed myself in order to save Naruto, _he reached up to his neck, remembering the way those needles had pierced through it. _And Naruto himself has saved me too, maybe that made my body think that I need him._

He tutted at himself as he walked through his house, wearing nothing but a white towel wrapped around his waist, and went to make himself some herbal tea.

After flicking the kettle on, he leaned against a surface and sighed. This was so messed up, but there was nothing he could do. He knew what he wanted – he wanted Naruto - but how to get it? He knew Naruto didn't feel the same way (how could he?) and he knew if he went out with a boy his entire reputation would be destroyed, and there was no way Naruto would let himself ruin his own reputation. That damn bastard was still intent on becoming Hokage.

"Oh why does God hate me?" Sasuke sighed. Of all the things to happen to him, it had to be falling in love with Naruto. God clearly enjoyed making Sasuke suffer as much as possible.

"Or maybe Naruto's the only thing that can help me," Sasuke muttered sadly. He sighed again and noticed that the kettle had boiled. He got down a cup and teabag and poured the hot water into it, enjoying watching the colours swirl out of the teabag, and the calming and enriching smell that came from it.

"This is so fucking messed up Sasuke. You're planning on how to capture Naruto's heart, you gay weirdo." Sasuke growled to himself, but knew that stern words wouldn't change the way he felt.

He sat down with his herbal tea, sipping at the hot liquid tentatively, enjoying the fresh taste. It refreshed his body, and he instantly felt his muscles relax. But even with herbal tea, the swirling excitement in his stomach, reminding Sasuke of just how weird he was, didn't leave.

"Well I seem to be able to get girls to like me," he mused, "maybe I'm able to get boys to like me as well."

And he fell asleep plotting various ways to get that stupid blonde baka.

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><p>Ok, so like I said, not too great as there's no beautiful yaoi, but this was necessary because otherwise it would be just <em>too <em>OOC for Sasuke to fall for Naruto (Imaimashī!) But I promise that next chapter has some action!

Ah but unless this gets some positive response I won't continue because I have actually got work to do xD

If you don't have time to review, please fave or alert! Arigatō!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I love you guys nearly as much as I love yaoi :') Thanks for the support! I'm very sorry it's so late, but I've been so busy it's actually mind-blowing.

This is a couple days after the last chapter! And yes, as promised there is action!

Another heads up though, **spoiler alert** I'm not so good at writing kissing scenes, so you're gonna have to bear with!

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><p>Naruto couldn't help but strut as he walked down the street. Everywhere throughout the village people were talking about him, and it was <em>good <em>things! Naruto had had his fair share of disapproving looks and taunting smirks, but now people looked at him and tried to hide their surprise at his achievement.

He'd only been going out with Amaki, a girl who'd just moved in months ago, for a week, but already they'd become the most talked about thing in the whole village. Everywhere he went people would stare at him in shock, and he'd grin back at them, giving them a wave, and continue on.

Amaki claimed that she didn't like it so much. She definitely wasn't shy, but she told Naruto that she didn't enjoy being talked about behind her back. But even so, she did have a certain gleam in her eyes whenever people made her the centre of attention.

If this was the reason she was going out with Naruto, he was too dense to notice.

"Hey Naruto!" Shino Aburame called out to him in the street. "I heard that you have a girlfriend. Is this true?"

Naruto blinked. Shino never really opened conversations. He had always been…weird. Still, Naruto should treat him like everyone else.

He grinned, flashing his white teeth, "It sure is!" His face loosened into a curious expression. "Did your bugs tell you?"

Shino continued staring at him. "No. I heard it from Lee." He then turned and walked away.

The normal reply unsettled Naruto, even if he didn't notice it. He continued walking down, planning on finding Sasuke and showing off. Finally, Naruto had beaten Sasuke at something! He'd gotten a girlfriend first! Although she wasn't Sakura as Naruto would've liked, she was still attractive.

Sure, she wasn't a supermodel, but she wasn't bad. Her hair was a violent red, her eyes small and brown, and she was shorter than Naruto, despite actually being a year older.

After searching throughout the village for a good 45 minutes, Naruto found Sasuke in a small clearing in the woods, practising with shurikens. With his back to Naruto, he didn't notice the blonde behind him.

"Hey baka!" Naruto called out and watched in delight as Sasuke lost his concentration and completely missed his target.

"What is it Naruto?" Sasuke didn't turn, instead his whole body tensed.

"Did you hear? I have a girlfriend," Naruto walked up to Sasuke, "and you don't!"

Naruto expected Sasuke to play it cool and shake it off, while really dying inside. What happened surprised him.

Sasuke's whole body started trembling, and he gripped the shuriken in his hand so tight blood started flowing from his palms.

Naruto, oblivious to Sasuke's real thoughts assumed that he was just really jealous of him. He grinned, an evil glint in his eyes.

"That's right. We cuddle and have pet names and ki-" Naruto was cut off as Sasuke let out an anguished exclaim.

"N…Naruto…I'm trying really hard to…resist. Please shut up." Sasuke's voice trembled and Naruto smirked.

He walked forwards and put his chin on Sasuke's right shoulder. "Oh I'm sorry. Do you have a problem with us kiss-ing." Naruto emphasised the last word and basked in the glory of seeing Sasuke bow his head, his whole body trembling, and blood dripping from his right hand onto the leaf litter.

"Don't…push me…" Sasuke hissed through clenched teeth. "It wasn't meant to go like this…"

Naruto really had no idea what Sasuke was talking about; only that he was pissed, and clearly was resisting fighting Naruto. This annoyed Naruto – he wanted to fight! He decided to piss him off some more so that he was forced to fight him.

"Hmm, are you jea-lous?" Naruto taunted. "Jealous that I've got someone to hold me and kiss m-"

It all happened so fast Naruto didn't even know what happened. He felt Sasuke turn, and then suddenly he was on the floor, with Sasuke kneeling on top of him, pinning his wrists against the ground.

"Baka…I warned you…" Sasuke's voice had a dark tone to it, and left Naruto completely confused. Why wasn't Sasuke fighting him? Why had he pinned him against the ground? What was he going to do?

"Sas-" Naruto couldn't continue. Sasuke had forced his lips against Naruto's, and quickly took advantage of his open mouth by shoving his tongue down.

Naruto's blue eyes bulged and he tensed his arms. Sasuke was _kissing_ him? What was wrong with him?

He furiously flexed his arms, trying to unpin himself in vain. This had to be a mistake; Sasuke must've fallen or something, but Naruto knew it wasn't true; there was an angry hunger behind Sasuke's hot lips.

Naruto attempted to push Sasuke away from his mouth with his tongue, but Sasuke caught it with his and trapped it. Naruto felt his whole body grow hot as Sasuke's tongue _fondled _his.

He heard Sasuke moan, which scared Naruto as he had to face the truth – Sasuke was enjoying this. What was wrong with him? He was kissing a boy!

Just as Sasuke bit down on Naruto's bottom lip, Naruto had a flash of intuition and roughly lifted up his right leg, kneeing Sasuke right between his legs, hitting his dick.

Sasuke's grip immediately loosened, and he pulled back from Naruto, letting out an anguished cry. Naruto quickly brought his foot up and kicked Sasuke's chest, throwing him off Naruto and lying in a crumbled heap on the opposite side of the small clearing.

Naruto got up, wiping his mouth of their combined saliva, and breathed heavily. His lips still tingled where Sasuke had kissed them.

"What the fuck Sasuke?" He shouted angrily, his chest and arms where clenched and his eyes wild.

"Heh…I…warned you," Sasuke spat out wearily. He was curled up, and clearly in a lot of pain. His expression was a mixture of self-pity, hurt and triumph.

"Why did you kiss me?" Naruto demanded, furious and deeply confused.

"It's not my fault…I don't want to love you, baka. It's just the way it is." He gave a weary chuckle, and managed to stand up, but was still clearly in pain. He stared at Naruto, his dark eyes swimming with adoration and longing. "I love you Naruto."

Naruto felt his lungs freeze, too confused to continue. His face was blank and his eyes expressionless as he stared at Sasuke.

Sasuke grimaced as he moved forwards, still bent over slightly, "Naruto…" he whispered, "I want to hold you and never let go…I want to walk around the village with my arm around you and show you off… I want to kiss you and love you, and treat you like you're the only person in the world…" He hung his head down, so that his black hair obscured his eyes.

Naruto could hear blood pumping through his head, and the escalating beat of his heart. He was standing stood rigid and completely motionless, but then felt a panicky scream from his lungs, and forcefully sucked in air, and exhaled.

_Do something! This is a joke, duh! _His brain told him, so Naruto quickly scratched his head and gave a forced, nervous laugh, "Ha ha Sasuke! I get it! Very funny!"

"Tch!" Sasuke gave an annoyed hiss. "Of course you'd think it was a joke." An evil smile crept onto his lips and made the hairs on Naruto's spine raise. "If you don't believe me, I could show you…"

Naruto stepped back, terrified, "No Sasuke! Just stop it!" He was shaking.

"I can't Naruto…" He looked up again and Naruto saw the desperate plea in his eyes. "Please, believe me. I love you."

Throughout Naruto's body it felt as though a whirlpool of emotions were crashing against him. There was: anger – complete belief that Sasuke was tricking him; fear – scared that Sasuke wasn't joking; confusion – why would Sasuke trick him like this, or, if he wasn't joking, why would he love Naruto? ; Pity – Sasuke was losing all the respect he'd gained; and hopeful longing – someone wanted him, someone loved him.

The last emotion scared Naruto more than Sasuke did.

_No, I have to run away, I have a girlfriend now. I have respect._

"Sasuke…I don't know what's wrong with you, but…I don't feel any of those about you. I have a girlfriend now. I'm getting noticed in the village and I have someone for me." Naruto said in a monotone, wary of Sasuke's reply and being cautious not to provoke him.

"Baka!" Sasuke looked furiously at Naruto, his eyes wild, angry and impatient, and for a moment Naruto's heart lurched. "I'd give you more attention than the whole village put together!" He growled and walked forwards slightly.

"No Sasuke…stop it please," Naruto bowed his head, desperate for Sasuke to shut up. "You can't…do this to me…why would you?" He raised his head and stared at Sasuke, pleading for an answer, his eyes tearing slightly.

Sasuke gave a jolt, struck by emotions. "Naruto!" He started towards Naruto, but was stopped by a raised hand.

"Sasuke. I'm going to leave now and forget this happened." He said, making sure not to make eye contact. He turned and sprinted, running away from the confusion.

Sasuke stood quiet in the clearing, his head hung, feeling utterly depressed. He didn't let his brain process that Naruto had just completely rejected him. That idiot! Didn't he realise how serious this was? You can't just do that to someone who's poured out their heart to you!

He reached up and touched his lips gently. Kissing Naruto had given Sasuke a warm buzz, and his lips still felt hot. He couldn't believe that his feelings hadn't come across though.

Remembering how good kissing Naruto felt gave Sasuke new determination, and impatience. He needed Naruto now!

Sasuke's original plan, to be continuously nice to Naruto but remain careful, would no longer do at all. Not only had Sasuke accidentally spilled out all his bottled up feelings, but there was now a new urgency to have Naruto quickly as possible.

Thinking it over quickly, Sasuke determined that Naruto _must_ have some feelings for Sasuke, because he hadn't throttled him (which would be Sasuke's reaction if a guy he hated came up and frenched him). Naruto obviously just hadn't given it any thought, so was too shocked and didn't have time to process his true feelings.

"Tch! Naruto is too stubborn to love me now though! He'll continue forcing himself to have me even though he doesn't, after doing that to me!" Sasuke fumed, thoroughly pissed at Naruto's annoying personality.

_I'm gonna just have to force him to love me._ Sasuke thought grimly, walking out of the clearing.

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><p>So slight yaoi, but trust me it gets a whole lot better ;) Review, because same as before applies, and I need motivation to get me working on this!<p>

Oh and I have a question: Would most of you understand what 'bloke' means? I'm not too savvy with foreign slang, and don't know whether you guys have that in your vocabulary x)


	3. Chapter 3

"Naruto-kun!"

Naruto snapped back into reality, which at this point was his kitchen.

"Yeah?" He blinked at Amaki, who was pouting dramatically.

"Stop daydreaming!" She demanded, frowning in a cutesy way.

Naruto smiled, "Ah sorry Amaki-chan!" He paused for a moment, staring at her displeased expression. "Do you wanna go somewhere?"

"In this weather?" She said incredulously. Naruto looked out of a window and witnessed the rain pouring down, hammering the glass in a hypnotising rhythm.

"Ah..." He trailed off and noticed how dark it was. They'd run out of things to say.

"Humph," Amaki sighed. "I'd better get back."

Amaki sat up, pushing the chair backwards. Naruto quickly got up as well, realising that he had to escort her in this light.

"I'll get-" Naruto was cut off by the doorbell.

He walked over, with Amaki trailing slowly behind.

He opened the door, caught a glimpse of the person in the doorway and quickly slammed the door shut again.

"Naruto-kun?" Amaki queried curiously.

"Ah ha ha, it was just a salesman!" Naruto laughed nervously, scratching his head. He quickly guided Amaki back into the kitchen. "I'll deal with him, one second!"

Amaki looked confused, but stayed put. Naruto went round to the door again, and opened it slowly.

"That was rude," A dripping wet figure said, with narrowed eyes.

"What do you want Sasuke? I've got Amaki round!" Naruto protested, but Sasuke appeared not to hear and strolled in anyway, slipping his shoes off.

"Sasuke!" Naruto growled, grabbing Sasuke's arm.

"Sasuke-kun?" A curious Amaki stepped round to the hallway.

"Who're you?" Sasuke questioned, with narrowed eyes.

"Uh, Sasuke, Amaki-chan; Amaki-chan, Sasuke." Naruto hurriedly introduced them, aware of rising tension.

"I thought you said he was a salesman?" Amaki accused.

"Yeah, turns out it was Sasuke!" Naruto lied awkwardly.

"Why're you at Naruto's?" Sasuke demanded.

"Eh? I'm his girlfriend!" Amaki pursed her thin lips.

Sasuke's eyes widened, with a quick flash of surprise and undoubtable hatred, before quickly fading.

"Oh, I'm sorry it must be quite awkward me arriving here now, but I got caught in the rain and was wondering if I could stay for a while," Sasuke was confident and charming, a side of him Naruto had never witnessed.

"Oh, it's fine!" Amaki giggled, blushing. Naruto felt like punching Sasuke.

_Heh, this will teach him._

He pulled Amaki forward and kissed her in a brief moment of bravery.

She was nothing like Sasuke; compared to his hot, vicious lips, hers were cold and weak. It was though he was simply pushing his mouth against a piece of flesh. There was no meaning.

He pulled back after a couple seconds, and looked round to see Sasuke staring wide-eyed with malice and disbelief.

"Uh…" Amaki appeared embarrassed, but luckily didn't slap him. She then smiled.

"Sorry! I couldn't resist!" Naruto grinned. He wondered whether this counted as lying.

"That's ok Naruto!" she giggled, still red. "I wonder…was that your first kiss?"

His heart faltered.

_Shit!_ He panicked. It wasn't, but he'd only ever kissed Sasuke. Should he lie?

"It was my first kiss that meant something," Naruto glanced over at Sasuke, eager to see his reaction.

Before he could catch Sasuke's expression, a fist slammed against his cheek, sending him across the kitchen, into a slumped heap.

His face throbbed, and he let out a groan of pain.

"Eh? Sasuke-kun!" Amaki cried in confusion.

"Sorry, I don't know what came over me!" Sasuke gasped in shock horror, staring at his hands as though they were live creatures.

The doorbell rang again, but all Naruto could do was let out a murmur of acknowledgement.

"I-I'll get it!" Amaki said hurriedly, and opened the door. "Ouya-nii san!"

"Nii-san?" Naruto muttered. Amaki's brother couldn't see him in this state!

He quickly scrambled up and popped his head round. Amaki's brother was tall and well-built, with messy white hair and scruffy clothes.

"I've come to pick you up. Let's go." Ouya grabbed Amaki's hand and pulled her under the umbrella he was holding.

"Bye Naruto-kun! Bye Sasuke-kun!" Amaki called as Ouya slammed the door shut behind them.

"Bye…Amaki-chan," Naruto called weakly, even though she'd already left. He reached up to his face, and rubbed at where the stinging pain was centred.

"You deserved that punch Naruto. I'm not apologising." Sasuke said while leaning against a wall with his arms crossed. Naruto couldn't face him.

"Yeah…I'm sorry," Naruto felt awful. It was true that he didn't really believe all that crap Sasuke had spouted out last time, but still – that kiss was uncalled for.

Naruto was just about to turn when Sasuke reached over with a hand and pulled Naruto towards him. Sasuke pressed his lips against Naruto's, with his right hand wrapped round his head.

Fast as lightning, Naruto slapped Sasuke with all his might, pushing him away.

"The hell is wrong with you!" Naruto shouted, furious.

"Bloody hell, I only kissed you! Stop acting like I did something outrageous!" Sasuke growled, wiping his cheek where Naruto'd slapped him.

"Kissing me _is_ outrageous, Sasuke! I'm a boy, in case you haven't noticed!" Naruto spat.

"And? Naruto, I _love_ you." Sasuke said with a scary amount of sincerity.

Naruto stared at him, refusing to let his brain process Sasuke's words.

"Anyway, baka," Sasuke sighed, shrugging as though nothing had happened, "I'm soaking wet, so I'll be borrowing your shower."

"Whatever, Sasuke," Naruto managed to mumble. He looked down at the floor and pointed towards the bathroom. "There are towels in there."

Sasuke didn't move for a moment and simply stared at Naruto.

Without saying a word, he walked forward and grabbed Naruto in a fierce hug, then kissed the top of Naruto's head.

Naruto didn't move; he just let himself get embraced in Sasuke's warm, wet arms.

As Sasuke dropped his grip and walked away, Naruto was left too scared to enter the pool of emotions that Sasuke had filled.

XXX

The shower was deliciously warm against Sasuke's skin. He grabbed a bottle of Naruto's shower gel (laughing as he read 'Old Spice'), and lathered it over it body.

Sasuke couldn't tell what Naruto thought of him. All he knew was that he didn't really have many feelings for that Amaki girl, as he demonstrated when he used her to annoy Sasuke.

He felt kinda bad for punching Naruto, admittedly, but seriously, that _jerk_! Who would mess with someone's emotions, just to trigger another's?

"I guess this means he actually likes me though," Sasuke mused. Naruto was obviously trying to make him jealous. Surely you only do that with people you like?

A growl rumbled from Sasuke's stomach. He was glad no-one was around to witness it; it was Naruto's job to be the hungry one!

He turned off the shower and grabbed a towel from a cupboard. The bathroom was a tip, with towels scattering the floor, and the sink covered in junk.

Sasuke frowned as he wrapped the towel around him and walked out of the bathroom.

"You need to tidy up sometime, moron," Sasuke called out through Naruto's house, as he walked round into his kitchen, which was also a mess.

Naruto was nowhere to be seen, so Sasuke rummaged through his cupboards, tutting at the unorganised various objects.

"How does he survive?" Without real intention, Sasuke started organising the cooking objects and ingredients.

It quickly dawned on him that all Naruto owned were ingredients for ramen.

"Naruto!" Sasuke called. After a few moments, an annoyed looking Naruto slumped into the kitchen.

"What are you doing Sasuke?" He hissed with furrowed brows.

"I was trying to organise your kitchen. Is ramen all you eat?" Sasuke asked, leaning against a counter with one eyebrow raised.

"Uh…" Naruto gave a look of intense thought. "Now that I think about it, yeah."

He shrugged and walked in, pushing Sasuke out the way and got out ingredients.

"Now if you don't mind, I'm hungry." Naruto started working on the food. Sasuke looked down sadly. Of course, no-one had taught Naruto how to cook properly.

"Here, I'll make dinner. As thanks for letting me use your shower." Sasuke carefully took the utensils from Naruto's grip. Naruto didn't move.

"What's wrong Naruto? You've been acting weird for a while now," Sasuke asked.

"I just…" Naruto clenched his fists, then sighed and relaxed them. "Never mind. Call me when you've finished cooking."

He walked slowly out. Sasuke felt his heart twist. It hurt so much that he couldn't make Naruto happy.

"Oh, and get some fucking clothes on!" Naruto called and Sasuke smiled.

"But I like walking round naked!" Sasuke called back, teasingly.

"Tough! You can borrow some of my clothes if needs be."

Sasuke wrinkled his nose, "You do wash your clothes, right?"

"Of course! Oh just take them from the pile on the left, not the right. The right is laundry."

"You don't put them in drawers?" Sasuke cried.

Naruto didn't reply. Sasuke hissed in disapproval. He was such a slob!

_Why the hell do I like him?_ Sasuke groaned inwardly as he started chopping ingredients.

XXX

Naruto curled up on his sofa, hugging his legs. He felt strangely vulnerable with Sasuke so close.

Naruto didn't understand what was happening to him. Before, he'd always viewed Sasuke as a friendly rival, but now being close to the raven made Naruto's body feel all strange and sloshy, as though it was melting inside.

He smelt a delicious aroma wandering from the kitchen. Naruto already knew Sasuke could cook, which is why he didn't reject his offer. At least, this is what he told himself.

He got up and popped his head round the door, frowning when he saw that Sasuke was still only wearing a towel.

He walked over to his bedroom and grabbed a shirt and pair of sweatpants, sniffing them to make sure they were clean.

As he carried the clothes round to give them to Sasuke, he suddenly felt very embarrassed about lending his clothes out. It was like they were he was, and handing them over was like allowing Sasuke to judge him.

He pushed this thought away and entered the kitchen. Damn it smelt good!

"Put these on, teme," Naruto ordered and dumped the clothes on the table, before turning quickly, hoping to not give Sasuke a chance to reply.

"Oi, moron!" Sasuke called, and Naruto stopped in his tracks.

"Yeah?"

"…Nothing," Sasuke hummed. Naruto felt the blood boil inside of him.

XXX

Naruto ate the delicious food with a smile.

"Wow Sasuke! This is so good!" He praised his friend with a smile, and got one back in return.

"I'm glad you appreciate it," Sasuke said, chewing on his food.

"Anyway…so how are you planning on getting back?" Naruto was nervous about bringing up the subject, unsure of Sasuke's reply. At least he was wearing clothes now, although Naruto was embarrassed to see them too small on the Uchiha.

"Hn? I was planning on staying here tonight," Sasuke said nonchalantly.

_Rude!_ Naruto fumed mentally.

"Ah sorry; I only have one bed!" He gave an awkward smile.

"That's ok. I don't mind sleeping with you," Sasuke shrugged.

"EH?" Naruto exclaimed.

"It was a joke dweeb," Sasuke rolled his eyes and Naruto felt his cheeks grow red. "But seriously, can't I just share your bed? I can sleep on the opposite side to you."

Naruto sighed, "Ok, fine! But you're getting kicked out into the rain if you pull any of the kissing shit on me!"

Sasuke got up and cleared away the dirty dishes. "Deal."

Naruto slumped down as Sasuke took his bowl away from him. It felt funny having someone do things for him.

He liked it.

Without warning, Sasuke came and hugged him from behind.

"_I love you Naruto,_" he whispered softly. Naruto felt his whole body grow hot. What was up with Sasuke! Whispering things like that so casually!

"Whatever, teme." Naruto muttered. He refused to let Sasuke manipulate him! It couldn't be true that the popular, raven-haired Uchiha had actually fallen in love with a boy – and Naruto no less!

He pushed Sasuke off of him and left the kitchen.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: FLUFF! I hope you enjoyed! I'm pretty sure this chapter's better than the last (yes?) ^^**

**I really tried hard to make them in character, but alas! I couldn't do it :'( So you'll have to survive ;P**

**I'm not 100% sure where this story's going, but I've got a pretty rough idea! Please suggest any cute scenes you'd like me to add in =^.^=**

**Review and critique please! I really want to improve, so all suggestions are open! Else you can just leave a note to show me people are actually reading ;)**

**Much appreciated!**

**~Misty**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry it's a bit late guys, but thanks so much for all the positive feedback! You guys really are the best!**

**This…chapter…was so hard to write! I think I've rewritten it 3 times now! Ughhh…**

**The second section (after italics) is a bit strange. I guess it's in Naruto's POV but some of it switches slightly. Don't worry I think you can tell who's thinking what.**

_In front of Naruto, the image of Sasuke standing, trembling had appeared. He stood in front of a near-dead Sakura, his feet drenched in her blood. _

"_Run!" Naruto's scream ripped the air. "I'm going to kill you! Run Sasuke!"_

"_No! I love you! I won't run!" Sasuke was trembling but his voice was sturdy. His fists were clenched._

"_I am the 9 tailed demon fox! I will kill you with one blow!" Naruto didn't know who was talking. It was Kyuubi announcing himself, but he felt like the voice was warning Sasuke, so he guessed he was getting across._

"_No! Naruto you're in there! I love you!" Sasuke cried his eyes wide with terror._

"_No, Kyuubi has taken over completely now!" Naruto screamed with his last ounce of will. He felt Kyuubi rip through his soul and jump through the tear, quickly claiming his body completely._

_A triumphant roar echoed throughout the dark forest as Naruto reached up to kill the raven._

"SASUKE!" A scream shattered the peacefulness of the dark air, and Sasuke jolted up, his dark eyes wide with shock.

"What? Naruto!" He crawled over the bed he was sitting in, to where his best friend was crouching, hugging his legs, covered in sweat and panting heavily.

"S-Sasuke…!" Naruto whimpered, and Sasuke quickly wrapped the blonde in his arms and started stroking his hair with his right hand. Naruto immediately flung his arms round Sasuke's middle.

"Shhh, it's ok Naruto, I'm here," Sasuke soothed, rocking rhythmically, letting Naruto grip onto his bare back. Unlike Naruto, who was wearing a full set of pyjamas, Sasuke just wore sweatpants.

After a few moments of gentle rocking and Sasuke's hushed murmurs, Naruto finally loosened his arms from his friend's body and tucked himself into his chest. Sasuke dropped his embrace, secretly disheartened at having to do so.

"Thanks Sasuke. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up," Naruto didn't look Sasuke in the eyes. He felt so vulnerable. He didn't want to expose anything inside of him using his eyes.

"Don't apologise, dobe. I'm just glad I was here to comfort you," Sasuke paused for a moment. "Do you get nightmares often?"

Naruto hesitated, unwilling to let the Uchiha delve too far into his private life. _Don't be so stupid, he just comforted you!_

"Yeah, but they're not normally as vivid as that one. I don't normally actually wake up screaming," Naruto said, as though that made things better.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Sasuke asked. He remembered when he was younger, that telling his parents or brother about a nightmare helped him get over it.

"I guess it's stupid really, but the kyuubi had overpowered me, and I-I…" Naruto felt tears well up, and Sasuke quickly renewed his embrace.

"You don't have to tell me," Sasuke said, despite being very curious as to what would affect Naruto so much.

"I killed everyone," Naruto said softly. "Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, Shikamaru-kun, lno-chan, Kiba-kun and then…Sakura-chan tried to stop me and-and I attacked her and she bled so much! I was covered in her blood, it was drowning me, and…" Naruto glanced up at Sasuke, relieved to see that Sasuke's expression was soft and concerned. "Then you came, Sasuke. I knew I was going to kill you, so I told you to run, but you didn't. You kept saying…"

Naruto stopped himself. He moved his head so that his hair covered his eyes. "It doesn't matter."

Sasuke felt curiosity burn fiercely within his chest. He was the type that _had_ to know. But, he was very good at hiding his discomfort at his lack of knowledge. Normally, if he acted like he didn't really care then the other person would tell him. Most of the time, they really did want to tell him, but wanted him to beg. Sasuke was not the type to beg.

"Sasuke…with the no kissing crap rule still in place…do you think you could sleep next to me, instead of at my feet?" Naruto asked hesitantly. Sasuke smiled.

"Sure," He shifted under the blanket as Naruto lied down again. It surprised Sasuke when Naruto remained facing the raven, instead of turning around.

Sasuke decided to conjure up enough bravery to wrap his arms round Naruto again. When Naruto did nothing, Sasuke pulled him closer, so that Naruto's head was resting on Sasuke's chest.

Naruto didn't move, too scared to break the embrace. He felt so safe in Sasuke's strong arms, like they were a shield.

Without real intention, Naruto nuzzled his forehead against Sasuke, his body eager to be closer to the Uchiha.

"Naruto…" Sasuke sighed. His whole body was singing with joy at being so close to the Uzumaki. He wanted to squeeze Naruto so close to him that he would never be able to escape. His heart was beating so fast he was almost embarrassed.

Naruto heard Sasuke's heart beat faster. He smiled for some reason; his whole body felt happy.

He tried to keep his thoughts on Sasuke's heartbeat, as it slowly evened out again, into a slower rhythm, but his dream kept lapping at his mind, resting on top, eager to devour his thoughts.

_It wasn't real!_ Naruto chanted in his head, but was careful not to let Sasuke realise he was unsettled. Naruto didn't feel uncomfortable having Sasuke worry about him, but he was worried of becoming selfish and needy.

_Sasuke…I told you to run but you said that you loved me…you wouldn't stop. Why Sasuke…why would you do that?_ Naruto felt like he was going to cry again. The feeling of having to kill someone so close to you was unbearable, even though Naruto knew it was only a dream.

He focused his mind on Sasuke's body around him. Like that, Sasuke was unable to go anywhere. He was safe. Nothing was going to hurt him.

It shocked Naruto that he was so concerned about Sasuke.

He clenched his eyes tighter together, not allowing himself to delve deeper into the thought. For now he would be happy in Sasuke's arms.

XXX

"Wake up, dobe!" A pillow hit Naruto in the face and he sat up.

"Wuh?" He mumbled, shocked at being woken up with force, instead of his alarm clock. He looked round at the time. It was 8:30.

He quickly fell back down onto his bed. He felt Sasuke's presence move towards him, his feet lightly scuffing the floor.

Naruto raised his arm over his face as he opened his eyes, leaving just a small gap to peer at the Uchiha through. "What?" He muttered at Sasuke's unimpressed expression.

"Get up! We have a mission today!" Sasuke waited for Naruto to do something.

"Ugh…fine, fine," Naruto moaned as he sat up. His head hurt as his neck slumped down in an uncomfortable position. Sasuke walked out of the bedroom, leaving Naruto alone.

He remained in his half-awake state for another 5 minutes, until Sasuke, fuming, finally came back again.

"Usuratonkachi! Get up, get up, get up!" Sasuke pounced Naruto, straddling his legs.

Naruto felt himself blush at the intimacy, but before he could speak, Sasuke attacked.

"Agh!" Naruto protested as Sasuke claimed his lips. He furiously tensed his mouth, but felt himself fall helpless as Sasuke's wet tongue stroked his bottom lip. His mouth, at its own accord, relaxed and began to move in time with Sasuke's. They moved together, in perfect sync. Sasuke continued to experiment with his tongue, and before Naruto knew it, he had gained entrance and Sasuke was exploring every nook and cranny of Naruto's mouth.

A gasp escaped Naruto as Sasuke's cold hands slid under his top.

He furiously pushed Sasuke away. "Teme!" he growled, wiping his mouth. "What do you think you're doing?"

Sasuke smirked. "Waking you up."

Naruto stared after Sasuke, gaping, as he nonchalantly walked away.

"Bastard!" Naruto shouted, but Sasuke didn't reply.

He mentally shuddered as he realised he had kissed Sasuke back. He hated to admit it, but damn was Sasuke a good kisser! He'd felt like his insides were melting. Ridiculous! He just wish he'd felt that way when he'd kissed Amaki.

Oh shit. Amaki.

Did that count as cheating? He supposed it wouldn't have if he hadn't kissed Sasuke back, but he had.

Ugh why was it one moment he's alone in the world, and the next he's cheating on his girlfriend! Damn you Sasuke.

Naruto got up then, worried in case Sasuke tried anything else funny. As he stood up, he took in his surroundings for the first time and immediately noticed something was off.

His room was empty.

Wait, no. Not empty.

His room was tidy.

_Tidy._

Naruto's room is _never_ tidy. The only time there wasn't clothes scattered across the room, and dirty dishes collecting mould was when he'd first gotten the flat.

That was 10 years ago.

He walked forwards cautiously, scared to touch any of the neatly put away possessions. His shelves held scrolls that were stacked with uniform precision, and the floor was spotless. He warily opened his neglected drawers and found his clothes folded neatly within.

"Sasukeeee…!" Naruto cried, scared of the orderliness of what he'd thought was his room.

"What?" Sasuke looked unimpressed as he walked into Naruto's room, his arms folded.

"Why is it tidy?" Naruto whined.

"I tidied in return for you letting me stay here," Sasuke said, and then raised an eyebrow. "You don't sound very grateful."

"I don't know where anything is anymore!" Naruto griped. "Everything was in order!"

Sasuke gave a small chuckle. "I'm not quite sure you understand the definition of order."

Naruto glared at him as Sasuke ruffled his hair. He quickly swatted his hand away.

"Don't worry, I know where everything is. Ask me if you can't find anything." Sasuke walked away, before calling back, "Oh I made breakfast too!"

Naruto quickly perked up. Sasuke was ace at cooking.

He decided to get dressed _after_ eating, so quickly trotted after the Uchiha, and to his delight saw two fry-ups sizzling beautifully on the table.

"Ah! Thanks Sasuke!" Naruto's voice was full of delight as he quickly sat down and dug into the sausages.

"You're welcome dobe," Sasuke smiled as Naruto greedily gulped down his cooking.

"Hn, stop calling me that!" Naruto mumbled through a mouth full of bacon.

"Once you stop being one," Sasuke flashed a brilliant smile, and then started on his own breakfast.

Naruto was too pleased with the food to really be angry at Sasuke's comment, so ignored him, greedily devouring his food.

Once he'd finished off the masses of greasy food, he wiped his mouth and stretched.

"That was great! Thanks Sasuke," Naruto beamed. "I'll go get dressed now."

"Underwear's in the top drawer, tops in the middle and jeans in the bottom," Sasuke informed Naruto, who still was not used to having his clothes in a specific order.

"Seems like an awful lot of effort for clothes. I mean, they're gonna get dirty really quick anyway. Why have them in order for such a short time?" Naruto queried and saw Sasuke roll his eyes.

"So that the house is tidy…!" Sasuke stated as though it was obvious, which is was.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, and continued on to his bedroom without further comment.

Sasuke was such a girl! He guessed it was kinda weird then having him come onto Naruto, because if they _were_ in a relationship Sasuke would be the girl, and girls are meant to be asked out, not boys.

Naruto shrugged it off. It's not important because they're not in a relationship. They're best friends! Just because Sasuke's kissed him a couple of times doesn't mean they're together!

Naruto was picking out his clothes when he realised that Sasuke had put away his underwear. He flushed a bright red, and then hastily grabbed his usual orange top and sweatpants.

_Ugh Sasuke's made everything so embarrassing for me! I would've thought nothing of it before!_ Naruto fumed. _Stupid Sasuke, acting like he's in love with me now._

Naruto didn't trust Sasuke to not barge in if he changed in his bedroom, so took his clothes to the bathroom, pausing momentarily to take in the cleanliness. Now that he thought about it, the kitchen had been clean too. Wow, how early did Sasuke wake up?

He didn't take much care in getting ready, just throwing on his clothes then washing his face and brushing his teeth, not bothering to take a shower. He was done within 5 minutes.

He was just about to leave his pyjamas slumped in a heap in the middle of the bathroom, but couldn't bring himself to do it. He sighed and folded them up, before wandering round to his bedroom and placing them carefully on his bed.

"Ah my little dobe's learning," A smirk came from behind him and Naruto whipped round to see Sasuke leaning against the doorframe, his hands in his pockets.

"Don't bet on it, teme," Naruto glared at him, though was mentally beaming at the possessiveness Sasuke used. It made him feel wanted.

Sasuke ruffled his hair as he passed through the doorway, but Naruto couldn't bring himself to swat him away. Sure, all this love crap was bollocks but it _was_ nice having someone touch and love him. Naruto had never had much human interaction of the loving kind, so was thankful for every smile he got.

"Right, let's go!" Naruto said cheerfully, grinning at Sasuke. Sasuke just smiled back then followed the bright Uzumaki.

XXX

Sasuke attempted to put his arm round Naruto while they were walking, but was profoundly rejected.

"Sasuke," Naruto began warily. "I'm not your boyfriend; I'm in a relationship with a girl! Stop acting like you own me!"

Sasuke just smirked, knowing that Naruto loved the possessiveness. "Why'd'ya kiss me back then?"

Naruto flushed a bright red, and Sasuke couldn't help notice how incredibly adorable he looked when he was self-conscious.

"Look, all I'm asking is that you don't show any PDAs to me."

"Does that mean I can do it in private?" Sasuke smirked as Naruto's eyes widened.

"N-No! Teme, shut up!" Naruto shoved his hands in his jeans and walked with his shoulders hunched.

_Ugh, he's so adorable,_ Sasuke couldn't help but think. Naruto looked just like a child who'd been beaten in an argument.

"Don't worry, Naru-chan," Naruto looked taken aback by Sasuke's pet name. "I'll behave."

They walked in a non-awkward silence till they met Sakura at their usual meeting place. As expected, Kakashi wasn't present.

"Hey Sasuke-kun!" Sakura waved when they were sight. Sasuke didn't reply, but watched as Naruto ran forwards to meet her.

"Sakura-chan! How're you?" Naruto grinned.

"I'm doing fine, Naruto." She said it in a way it almost seemed rude, but if Naruto noticed he didn't react. "Why did you two come together today?" She asked as soon as Sasuke had propped himself up against a wooden post.

"I slept round at Naruto's last night," Sasuke said nonchalantly, and watched in amusement as Naruto flushed and Sakura stared wide-eyed.

"Huh? How come?" She blinked.

"Ah, stupid teme here forgot his umbrella so I invited him to stay the night."

Sasuke stared at Naruto. "Liar," he said. Naruto scowled at him. "I came round soaking wet in need of shelter, only to find you making out with your girlfriend and therefore you were too _busy_ to help his out best friend."

"Making out?" Naruto fumed. "You wish!" As soon as he'd let the comment slip, he slapped his palm across his mouth and flushed a bright red.

"Eh, eh?" Sakura was dumbfounded at their attitudes, and was taking it in turn ogling the two boys. "Who were you making out with?"

"Not him!" Naruto burst out. Sasuke felt the pressure threatening to break Naruto. He obviously hadn't realised that there was no way Sakura would've come to the conclusion they were the ones kissing.

"WHAT?" Sakura roared. The look on her face was priceless.

"Amaki-chan! Amaki-chan!" Naruto rambled hastily, flapping his arms about. Sasuke continued to look on calmly. "I kissed Amaki-chan!"

The mood instantly lightened up. Sakura looked like she'd just breathed a sigh of relief, and her emotions quickly became one of a teenage girl hungry for gossip. Naruto, on the other hand, was so relieved he'd physically slumped down with exhaustion. He really wasn't one for smooth recoveries.

Sasuke just continued to look on, immensely amused.

"Ah! Well done Naruto!" Sakura grinned. Her expression was almost scary. She looked ravenous for information. "How did it happen?"

"Ah…it, er…"

Sasuke knew Naruto wouldn't be able to handle this. He'd slip up, so the Uchiha took it in his liberty to save him.

"It was a heat of the moment thing. Outside was dark and stormy as Amaki-san was just about to leave, so Naruto pulled her in quickly, stealing a soft kiss." It was a disgustingly cliché was of putting it, but Sasuke knew that's what Sakura wanted, and it was hilarious watching Naruto's expression.

"Ah! So romantic! Were you there too, Sasuke?" Sakura swooned.

"No I read about it," Sasuke's voice was dripping with sarcasm and Sakura quickly flushed a hard pink.

"Oh, of course. Ha sorry…" Sakura mumbled off, feeling dejected. Naruto quickly spoke up.

"Oi, teme! Don't be such a smart-ass!"

Sasuke felt his heart twist. It hurt…when he knew Naruto wasn't kidding. Sasuke couldn't help it. His normally calm disposure was fractured with a slightly slack jaw and light pink cheeks.

"S-Sorry…" He stuttered.

_Stuttered! What's wrong with me?_

Fortunately, no-one seemed to pay much attention as at that moment Kakashi appeared.

"Hey, ho, I'm early!" He said and Naruto and Sakura exploded in a shout of 'NO YOU'RE NOT!'

Sasuke, as per usual, remained silent. He hated how immature Kakashi was.

"Oh well…C-Class mission today!" Kakashi smiled.

"Yes! We've been having D-Class mission for ages!" Naruto rejoiced. "Let's go!" He called and started to make his way forwards, not waiting for Kakashi to direct them.

**A/N: Guuuuyyyyysss I've just gotten to the part where Sasuke leaves Konoha…I'm actually dying Dx**

**Can someone please tell me whether Sasuke's in any of the fillers after he fights Naruto? I don't know whether to skip to Shippuuden…**

**Oh, I'm looking for a beta! I just need someone to make sure I'm not rambling on here! Please volunteer!**

**Please please review! I worked too hard on this chapter lol. I love critiques! As long as you aren't too evil ;n; please point out ways to improve, not tell me I'm a terrible writer!**

**Anyway, keep a look out for the next chapter! It should be funny x) Oh and Shikamaru's is going to come in in a couple of chapters!**

**-Misty**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'M ALIVE. I am so ridiculously sorry about the wait (8 months!), for some reason this chapter did **_**not**_** want to be written. To be honest, if it weren't for your kind reviews I probably would've dropped this story. BUT ALAS, I am back and this chapter is notably better written than the last 4, and very long.**

**Quick recap of what's happened for those without immense memories: Naruto has girlfriend, Sasuke realised he loves Naruto (finally!), Sasuke slept over, Naruto had nightmares and snuggled with Sasuke, Kakashi has just told them that they're going on a C-Class mission.**

**HUGE thanks to the wonderful DarkElectra (** u/3362645/DarkElectra)**, who did an amazing job at beta-ing this (without her this may never have seen the light of day). I beta her LxLight DN story if you want to check it out :D**

**Oh, and as thanks to my faithful readers, anyone who reviews this chapter gets the next one dedicated to them :)**

* * *

><p>"Baby-sitting?!" Naruto exclaimed, angry and incredibly frustrated. He glared at their teacher who just looked on calmly as they walked towards their destination: a fairly large house, situated near the outskirts of the village.<p>

"But Kakashi-sensei, you said it would be a C-Class mission! This is D-Class for sure!" Sakura pouted, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Nah, it's a C-Class mission, alright."

Sasuke tensed slightly. Since when had baby-sitting become a C-Class mission? These must be some misbehaved children. Ugh. He hated kids, especially rowdy and boisterous ones.

He glanced round at Naruto, who was busy arguing. It seemed funny that Sasuke should like someone who on the outside appeared dumb and obnoxious, but Sasuke knew better. Naruto was the only person that was truly there for him, and actually knew him. With a small smile he recalled their first mission together; the way they'd worked together so flawlessly, how at that moment he knew Naruto would've risked his life to save him.

"What about you Sasuke-kun?"

His thoughts were interrupted by an eager Sakura. "What?"

"Are you any good with kids?" Sakura stared at him hopefully.

Sasuke just rolled his eyes. "I hate kids. They're messy, rude and stupid," he said, looking back away from Sakura.

"Ah-ha, you're right of course, Sasuke-kun!" She grinned nervously, her cheeks reddening.

"Eh? Sakura-chan? You just said you love kids!" Naruto questioned, resulting in a death glare from the pink haired girl.

"Shut it Naruto!" she growled, wasting no time in punching Naruto in the jaw.

Naruto clutched his face painfully, murmuring quiet exclamations of pain.

"You shouldn't go back on your word, Sakura. It's a bad habit," Sasuke told her, and saw her expression waver. The satisfied feeling of proving her right nearly had him smiling.

"U-un…" she trailed off, twisting a few strands of her hair and not meeting him in the eye.

"Oi, teme! Stop telling people off like you're better than them!" Naruto pointed his finger at the raven accusingly.

"Hn," Sasuke closed his eyes and turned his head away defiantly. Truth be told he knew he was better than Sakura, but he wasn't about to argue with Naruto again.

"Well, here we are," Kakashi announced. They opened the front gate and walked through the grassy front yard till they reached the front door. After ringing the doorbell, Kakashi smiled. "Well, have fun!"

"Eh?! Where are you going, Kakashi-sensei?!" Naruto said as Kakashi spun on his heels and made to walk away.

"I've got seats booked at the cinema, so I'm going to catch a movie! Don't worry," he smiled, "you'll be fine! They're just kids!"

And with that he left the three shocked ninjas waiting on the porch.

"Ah good! You're here!" A plump woman clad in shocking red attire opened the door. Her brown hair was dishevelled and she looked extremely worn-out, her eyes circled with dark bags.

"Uh, excuse me miss, what sort of kids are we talking about here?" Naruto asked, worried.

The woman forced out a strained laugh. "Oh they're angels really; they're just a bit misunderstood!"

Sasuke's jaw clenched."How many are there?" he narrowed his eyes when he noticed the sheepish expression she'd acquired.

"Oh, you know…twelve or so…"

"TWELVE?!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Well, you know. Round about. Thinking about it, it may be a tad more, but you'll be fine! I should be back at eight!" She hurriedly pushed past the three. Sasuke couldn't help but compare her to someone fleeing.

Fuck. He groaned inwardly. Kids. Ugh.

"Right. Well, come on," he said to the other two and trudged into the house.

"SASUKE!" A yell came from behind him, and in an instant he felt a body push him to the ground right before a vase hit the spot he'd been a moment before, smashing into the hallway wall behind him.

"What the…?" Sasuke muttered, then realised it was Naruto and he was lying on all the right places on top of him. "What was that about PDA, dobe?" Sasuke grinned. "Getting a bit hasty, aren't we?"

Naruto's face quickly turned a bright pink as he scowled and shoved himself off Sasuke. "Horny bastard."

"Anikiiii," a boy's voice whined. "The sitters are having butt-sex in our hallway!"

Just as a furious Naruto turned an even brighter red and Sakura let her jaw fall slack, a small child ran acrossthe hallway.

"OI BRAT!" Naruto screeched, scrambling over Sasuke after the kid.

"Who's having butt-sex?!" A grey-haired boy emerged, fuming.

"NO ONE!" Naruto roared. The boy narrowed his eyes at him. Naruto returned the glare.

"O-Ohayo!" Sakura forced a smile at the boy while shoving Naruto away. "We're the baby-sitters!"

"You? You need baby-sitters yourself," the boy told her rudely.

"Oi! We're ninjas, runt!" Naruto spat. He was clearly referring to how skinny the boy was.

This is getting us nowhere. Sasuke sighed.

"Look, we're going to be looking after you for next few hours, so you better get used to us." He looked down his nose at the kid, taking advantage of his height.

"Not likely." The kid stared up at the raven defiantly. "I make the rules round here."

Sasuke snorted. "You wish. Now where're the rest of you?"

"Aniki! Don't tell them anything!" the small boy whispered loudly, staring up at Sasuke with huge green eyes. In a way, he was cute, with ginger-blonde hair and a round face, but he was still a noisy, bratty, annoying kid.

"As if!" The grey kid huffed. "C'mon, let's go round to-"

Sasuke very nearly jumped as the boy was transported to the wooden floor with an audible smack.

"NOW LISTEN HERE BRAT!" Sasuke blinked. Sakura? Her eyes were wild with anger and fist still stretched out in front of here. "YOU'RE GOING TO LISTEN TO US, GOT IT?!"

The boy groaned, hand clutching his throbbing jaw, but nodded.

Sakura sighed, and then blushed when she noticed Sasuke staring at her. "Uh…ignore me Sasuke! That's never happened before."

Naruto piped up. "That was awesome!"

Sasuke smirked and saw Sakura's eyes glisten at his approval.

"Aniki!" The ginger kid looked like he was about to cry, and proceeded to glomp his brother. "Nezu-kun! I don't like them!"

"It's alright! I promise I'll be nice now!" Sakura said earnestly, trying to get a smile from the boy; her expression faltered at his fearful whimper.

"Look," the grey kid pushed the ginger off of him and stood up with a grunt."I couldn't give a fuck if you punched me, but you touch my siblings and I will fucking murder you."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. The way he talked gave him the impression it wasn't a bluff. In a way, Sasuke respected that, but at the same time he thought it was stupid.

"I-I won't hurt anyone else…I just, got really annoyed, and couldn't control myself!" Sakura was backed up slightly. "I promise I won't hurt your siblings."

The boy looked satisfied with her answer, and his eyes softened. "Sorry for being rude. Just the mention of butt-sex and I get angry. We had a problem a little while back that I'm not going to embarrass you with." He smirked and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"Well it's nice to meet you anyway! I'm Harano Sakura." Sakura smiled. The mood was much lighter than it had been a few moments ago.

"Nice to meet you too, Harano-san. You're gonna love all my siblings, I just know it." And with that, he left.

No sibling honorifics? Sasuke pondered. Maybe he's just too rude. But why'd he give Sakura –san then?

Sasuke let it leave his mind, though it still bugged him. He'd ask later though. Right now he needed to find the masses of children that apparently lived here.

As if in answer to his unvoiced question, a scream came from the end of the hallway, and a brunette girl clambered down the carpeted stairs, followed by a black haired boy. Before any of the ninjas could say anything, the two kids slammed into them, knocking all of them onto the ground in a chaotic dogpile.

"Itai…" the brunette moaned, but made no motion to get off.

"Can you get off me please?" Naruto grumbled beneath her, squirming in an attempt to push her off. The girl shifted awkwardly and unlocked herself from the cluttered mass of limbs.

"Who are you?" The black haired boy who'd been chasing the girl spoke, untangling himself from a pissed-off Sasuke.

"We're the baby-sitters!" Sasuke hissed, standing up and brushing himself off. They hadn't even moved from the hallway yet!

"Heh…you're awful pretty for baby-sitters," the boy smirked at Sasuke, unsettling the Uchiha with his rabid gaze. "Say, have you ever played midget boxing?"

"What?" Sasuke frowned. The fuck?

"It's easy! I'll get down on my knees and give you a few blows." The boy grinned, an untamed fetish in his indigo blue eyes.

Sasuke clenched his fist to punch the man-whore into oblivion, but before he could Sakura leached onto his arm and the brunette girl did it for him.

"ISAMI YOU CRAZY SLUT!" the girl roared as she connected her fist with the boy's jaw, knocking him back onto the floor. "You don't just fucking offer complete strangers BJs!"

Ah, so that one's Isami. Sasuke growled mentally. He had loosened his fist, and Sakura had let go.

"Ow! Taeko-chan!" the boy moaned, rubbing his injured face.

And that one's Taeko, the so called 'only other normal one'.

"Listen, we don't particularly want to be here, so can you just gather all your siblings into the living room so we can explain what's going to happen," Sasuke breathed through clenched Kakashi, fuck him to hell!

The brunette studied him for a while, taking in all his features. The raven felt uncharacteristically unsettled by her gaze.

"You've meet Nezu-kun?" she asked. Sasuke furrowed his brows. Nezumika was his last name, meaning they all shared it.

…So Nezu-kun?

"Um, yes, we have," Sakura said. She also looked slightly confused.

"He was really rude!" Naruto complained. Judging by his expression, Naruto hadn't noticed anything odd. Go figure.

"Yeah, that's Nezu-kun! Just ignore him." She laughed awkwardly, blushing slightly. "I'll get everyone down. You can help yourself to food if you want."

Naruto perked up, looking at Taeko gleefully. "Woo! Free food!"

Taeko grinned at the cheerful blonde boy and Isami smirked ravenously. "I'll show you the kitchen," he purred.

Isami led Naruto away from the hallway. Sasuke growled as he saw his pale hand wander too far down Naruto's lower back, onto his butt, but he didn't say anything. No matter how much he loved Naruto, he wasn't about to go shouting his feelings while it was still (temporarily, he assured himself) unrequited. Unless, of course, that person was Naruto.

Sasuke waited for Taeko to call everyone down, but instead she rooted round for something. He frowned when she brought out a match.

"What are you planning to do, smoke them out?" Sasuke continued to watch as she lit it.

"My voice isn't loud enough to call them all down. Plus, I forget their names sometimes." Taeko reached up and wave the lit match under the smoke alarm.

Sasuke raised his eyebrow at her in puzzlement, then realised what she was doing.

"Wai-!" Sasuke was too late. The smoke alarm went off, and a shrill siren rang throughout the house. He pinched the nose of his bridge, feeling a migraine coming on. The hell was wrong with these kids?

He watched as a hurricane of children scrambled either down the stairs, or through doors along the hallway. They were all bustling towards the living room, complaining about the noise, or trying to outdo it with their own screams.

Taeko reached up in order to turn the alarm off, but she was just a couple inches short. She was a tall person, especially for a girl, but not that tall. Sasuke watched as she stretched, scowling as her fingers ghosted the button.

He sighed and reached up easily to press the button. The alarm rang a couple more times then turned off. Taeko stared at Sasuke, and then her eyes nervously flickered around the room. She ended up coughing an embarrassed 'thank you' and then walking round to join her siblings.

Sakura pouted childishly beside him."I don't like her," she announced.

"It doesn't matter. We're looking after her and her siblings for a while so you'd better get used to her." Sasuke knew Sakura was jealous, but didn't bring it up, since he didn't care.

At that moment Isami re-entered the hallway. That took a while, Sasuke thought suspiciously.

"Uzu-chan is happy eating right now," Isami said to Sasuke, who was mentally fuming at Isami's excessive friendliness towards Naruto.

"That's fine. We just need to introduce ourselves. Naruto needn't be there." Sakura appeared fairly disgusted by the boy. Sasuke felt like growling at the way she regarded Naruto.

Isami walked towards the living-room, he turned to Sasuke and grinned mischievously. "You coming?"

Sasuke gave the boy a death glare, having caught on with the innuendo. He furiously bit back a witty – and highly perverted – retort, and went into the living room.

XXX

Naruto slurped on noodles and mused over everything that had happened that day. Sasuke was still talking about loving him and had kissed him again. What horrified Naruto the most was that, well, he was okay with it. He wasn't completely repulsed by the idea of him and Sasuke as…a couple, and in all honesty the attention he was receiving warmed his heart. What worried him most was that Sasuke was joking; if Naruto fell for it and got crushed, he didn't know what would happen to him. He couldn't handle anymore negativity that people might throw at him. It would be alright if he wasn't alone, but if Sasuke was just tricking him, that would crush him.

Could he risk it?

"No," he said to himself, shaking his head to rid his mind of the thoughts. "I'm not gay, so it's not possible for us to be together. Shut up, Uzumaki, and concentrate on important things." Once his head was free from thoughts, he let them wander to this mission. It was going to be a handful, no doubt, but the kids seemed like people with their priorities set straight.

That Isami was really weird though. In all honesty, Naruto had no clue what he was talking about with 'giving Sasuke a few blows' and why Sasuke had looked so furious. He was talking about punching him right? And then that Taeko girl had said something about him offering 'complete strangers BJs'. Naruto made a mental note to ask Sasuke later.

After finishing his noodles, Naruto decided he'd better show his face during this mission. Even though it was sure to be boring, he didn't want to be a dead-weight. He stretched – the food had made him slightly sleepy – and headed out the door.

"Huh?" Naruto blinked as he reached the sitting-room door. At the foot of it, a boy was splayed out along the floor, seemingly unmoving.

Naruto crouched down, scrutinising him, then came to the conclusion he was asleep. "You can't just sleep in the hallway!" he shouted, as though he was expecting the boy to leap up, apologise and be on his way.

He scowled when nothing happened.

"Come on, wake up!" He shook the teenager, trying in vain to stir him. "Wake up!" he shouted again, this time slapping him. "Damn it!"

He sighed, deciding he'd just have to drag him. Muttering light curses, he hooked his arms under the boy's armpits, skillfully opened the door with his elbow, and then immediately dropped the boy when he saw the sitting-room.

Blurs of clothing were racing in all directions throughout the room, like colours in a blender. Broken objects could be spotted between trampling feet and grabbling hands. His mouth agape, Naruto continued to stare, until he finally noticed Sasuke sitting cross-legged on the wall, hovering horizontally above everyone else, his expression bored. Sakura was half as mental as the kids as she ran desperately after them.

"S-Sakura-chan? Sasuke?" Only Sasuke appeared to hear him. The raven looked over at Naruto as the blonde stepped into the room with shocked caution, forgetting about the slumbering boy he'd left on the floor behind him.

"Naruto, I know these children are misbehaved, but you didn't have to go so far as to kill one of them," Sasuke taunted playfully. His eyes were closed and he looked very comfortable horizontal.

"Teme! I didn't kill him, he was just asleep outside the door! Why don't you get down from there and help out Sakura-chan?!" He stuck his hand out in Sakura's direction. She finally noticed Naruto.

"NARUTO! Get some clones to restrain these kids!" she demanded, her pink hair disheveled and her face flushed from running about.

"Right! KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" Naruto grinned, made hand seals and let everyone watch as a dozen shadow clones poofed into existence. "Okay," he said to his clones, "you listen to everything Sakura-chan has to say, alright?"

"Yosh!" one clone exclaimed, resulting in a disbelieving stare from all present Narutos. "Uh…I mean, sure?"

"Just get to work! Sakura-chan, tell them what to do!"

Sakura nodded, green eyes determined. "What will you be doing then, Naruto?"

"Getting Sasuke off the wall!" He looked round at Sasuke, a mischievous smirk on his face.

Sasuke smirked, eyes still closed, while Sakura worked on getting the kids under control. "Well, usuratonkachi? Standing there isn't going to move me."

Naruto knew Sasuke had officially challenged him, even if it was in a playful manner. It was moments like this, when Sasuke was just being a kid with Naruto, that made the blonde remember why they were best friends. "Heh, you'll regret ever challenging me, baka!"

XXX

Sakura watched with hidden amusement at her teammates play-fighting while the shadow clones worked on calming down the children. One clone had even taken it in his stride to try and wake up that narcoleptic kid on the floor. It was good to know that the boys were getting along, and really Sakura didn't resent the close relationship Naruto had with Sasuke, even if jealousy did growl slightly within her stomach. There wasn't much she wouldn't give to be able to talk and mess around like that with Sasuke. It was odd that the fair-skinned teen was so willing to let his guard down with Naruto, when he was everything that Sasuke appeared to hate: childish, loud, and not afraid to mess up that perfect raven hair. Why was it they got on so well? She wondered. She would never dream of acting like that.

I guess that's the difference in our relationships. One of love and the other of friendship, she thought, not knowing how close she was to the truth, yet at the same time how far.

She sat on the sofa, still staring at Naruto's hilarious attempts to get Sasuke's feet on the floor. A few of the children had actually stopped running around to watch.

"How long have they been together?" A voice came from next to her on the sofa, startling Sakura and forcing a small 'eep' out of her. She scowled as she recognised the brunette from earlier. Taeko.

"Sasuke-kun and Naruto? Well we've all been teammates for around a year and a half," the Sakura answered reluctantly. Talking to Taeko wasn't something she wanted to do.

Taeko shook her head. "No, I mean together. Dating."

Sakura nearly fell of the sofa. "Whaaat?! Naruto and Sasuke-kun dating?! What on Earth are you talking about?!" she rambled, unable to process Taeko's words.

"They're not going-out?"Taeko blinked, sounding genuinely surprised, and then looked back at the boys. Naruto was on the ceiling (though she couldn't for the life of her figure out why), and Sasuke was busy checking his spotless nails for dirt.

"Of course not! I don't know what gave you that idea, but I can promise you that Sasuke-kun would never go out with Naruto." She almost laughed, the idea was so incomprehensible. Taeko gave Sakura a displeased look.

"Well, why not? They certainly seem happy in each other's company, and there's no denying the obvious chemistry between them. If they're not dating now, they will be in the future."

"They're both boys, in case you haven't noticed."

"And?" she asked, frustrated.

"And they're both straight!" Sakura didn't want to appear small-minded about homosexuality. "I mean, Naruto's had a crush on me for years and Sasuke-kun…" She trailed off, words failing her. On reflection, she couldn't find a single aspect of Sasuke that would absolutely confirm he was straight.

"And Sasuke-kun…?" Taeko prompted, a smug smile stretched across her round face.

"Sasuke-kun hasn't ever shown interest in any boys," she said resolutely. Taeko just closed her eyes and smirked.

"He seems to be showing quite a bit of interest in one particular boy." She nodded her head in the direction of Sasuke and Naruto. Sakura followed her gaze to where both boys were laughing, though Sasuke was clearly trying to hide it with his hand. Sakura continued to stare, speechless. Surely it couldn't be that Sasuke and Naruto were…like that?

"It makes no sense though. I mean, Naruto definitely isn't gay and they've been like rivals the minute they saw each other!" The information that this brunette was feeding Sakura's brain tasted cold and unsettling in her stomach.

Taeko shrugged. "He's only thirteen. You can't determine your sexuality that young. I expect they've matured much faster than anyone else though, which would be why they've moved on from being rivals."

Sakura took a glance at her companion; her eyes were gazing thoughtfully at Sakura's teammates. "Why do you think they've matured faster?"

"Everyone knows about the Uchiha massacre and Naruto doesn't have any parents either. You have to mature faster without a guardian." She stiffened at the words, her expression pained.

Sakura's quick mind caught on, and she felt a small prick of pity. "You're…you're all orphans."

Taeko smiled half-heartedly. "Took you long enough; Nezu-kun just likes to call us his siblings. But anyway, don't worry yourself about your teammates. I'm probably completely wrong and they're just in a serious bromance." The brunette stood up, leaving Sakura alone on the sofa.

Sakura was stubborn by nature, so her opinion of the other girl hadn't changed, though a part of her knew it should've.

She ignored it, distracting herself with checking on Naruto's clones. From what she could see, most were sitting on the floor or chairs, talking or watching the TV that had been turned on, and there were actually only 4 that were still running around (the lady had majorly under-exaggerated; Sakura had counted 22 children). More intervention was still required though, that much was clear. She got up with a small sigh and walked over to where Naruto was jumping up and down on Sasuke. "Naruto! Sasuke-kun!" she said to them. Neither moved from their positions.

"Ah, Sakura-chan! Help me get this teme off the wall!" Naruto asked, giving up on jumping and resorting to prying at Sasuke's legs.

Sakura kept her face straight. "We need to do this mission! These kids need feeding, entertaining and looking after!"

Naruto stopped and Sasuke sighed. "She's right, idiot. Okay, get off me." Sasuke shoved Naruto to the floor, who landed with a thump.

"Oi!" Naruto grumbled, and then his eyes widened as Sasuke got off the wall. "Hey, hey, you're off the wall!" he shouted happily.

"Yes but it wasn't you who got me off." Sasuke smirked playfully. Inner-Sakura squealed at the expression; oh Sasuke, why are you so gorgeous?

"Why you, TEME!" Naruto made to punch the raven, but he dodged it skillfully, managing to grab Naruto's hand and then dragged him along to the centre of the room.

"C'mon. We need to actually work, you realise."

Naruto looked ready to explode. "LET GO OF ME, YOU BASTARD!" he shouted furiously, flailing in Sasuke's grip.

"Naruto, don't use that sort of language in front of the kids!" Sakura scolded him, highly amused at the situation.

"But Sakura-chan-!"

"Right, now pay attention everyone!" Sakura began in a loud voice, cutting off a fuming Naruto. Sakura looked at their hands quizzically; she was sure Sasuke had grabbed Naruto by the wrist – how is it that now they're holding hands? It can't have been an accident: Sasuke's fingers were locked with Naruto's in an almost tender way. "We're going to serve dinner in a few hours, so in order to keep you in check till then we need you all to stay in here."

"But we'll get bored!" A boy shouted from the sofa.

"Well that's what we're here for," Sakura said pleasantly.

"I want Uzu-chan to keep me entertained!" All the shinobi reluctantly recognised the voice of Isami, who sat smirking on the floor. Naruto was the only one who didn't realise his true intentions.

"Well you can't have him!" Sasuke growled, tightening his grip on Naruto's hand. Sakura felt herself heat up. Could Taeko be right about them?

As though Naruto could read her thoughts, he subtly freed his hand from Sasuke, stretching his fingers in a way that is forced Sasuke's hand away. It wasn't obvious enough to embarrass Sasuke, but it was clearly an action of 'I'm uncomfortable with this position'. It was probably just awkward wording from Sasuke, Sakura told herself.

"O-Okay, it'll work like this!" Naruto said. "You can choose to either stay here to watch TV, run around outside, or help prepare dinner."

Ah, good plan Naruto!

"What are you going to be doing, Uzumaki-san?" This time it was a small girl.

"You can call me Naruto, and I'll be doing anything but cooking." He grinned and the little girl giggled. Sakura almost smiled at how easily he could laugh at himself.

"Sakura, would you like to cook or should I?" Sasuke asked her, in his usual monotone.

"Oh, I don't really mind." Sakura blushed slightly. Her cooking was awful, but she didn't want to tell Sasuke that; after all, who wanted a wife who couldn't cook?

"Ah, Sasuke's really good at cooking!" Naruto exclaimed, almost too excited. Sasuke looked slightly annoyed and Sakura remembered that Sasuke had stayed over at Naruto's last night.

"Alright then, Sasuke-kun you can cook. Who wants to join him?" Sakura asked, and then suppressed a groan as nearly every single girl jumped up eagerly.

Sasuke and Naruto looked equally pleased. "Bastard," Naruto hissed, so low Sakura nearly didn't hear it.

"Jealous?" Sasuke asked, just as quietly, with a small smirk on his lips.

Naruto narrowed his eyes angrily, then appeared to realise something and looked hurriedly at his smirking companion. "Not of them! Not them!"

Sasuke laughed as Naruto shoved him teasingly. Sakura blinked. Sasuke laughed? But…it wasn't in a mocking way, but a genuine 'that was funny' way. What is going on between them?

She tried to ignore it, though it was easier said than done. "Naruto, you have more stamina, so you can go with them outside and I'll stay here and tidy up." That last part was mainly for Sasuke to hear, but she really was planning on tidying up the ridiculous mess they'd created.

"Alright! Who wants to run around outside?" Naruto asked cheerfully. Mostly boys stood up, though it was a few girls, including the small one who spoke before.

"And the rest can stay with me," Sakura said happily. Things were starting to look better.

Team 7 split up to carry out their duty, though it wasn't exactly plain sailing: Sasuke had to deal with girls who would rather drool over him than their potential meal; Naruto had a huge argument over whether to play football or bulldog (the latter won eventually); and Sakura, no longer able to deal with the war going on over what to watch, ended up giving the remote to someone else, which resulted in some random soap opera.

But all the same, Team 7 managed to keep all the rowdy children under control right up until dinner (which was a less than pleasant affair) and afterwards they sent the younger ones to bed.

At 8:00, they were too tired to move off the sofa, so they all sat together, with Naruto in between Sasuke and Sakura, and all the kids either watching TV or their rooms.

"Hey guys…do you really think this should've been a C Class mission?" Naruto droned drowsily; he had been running around outside for a good few hours.

"Hn. Well, it was a lot of children," Sasuke replied, also tired.

"Yeah, but they were alright. I mean, I know you guys don't like Isami-"

"Hey!" came the indignant call from the black-haired boy, who was listening in.

"-But I think that they're all just really good kids at the end of the day," Naruto mused happily. "I think we did a good job in looking after them."

"I hate kids," Sasuke said off-handedly.

"Of course you do, teme, but remember you were a kid once. Heh, I remember you were much nicer then…" Naruto remembered with a smile. "…But not quite as attractive," he finished with a yawn and felt his head drop onto Sasuke's shoulder.

Sasuke smiled. "Baka." He flicked the top of the blonde's hair, whose only response was to snuggle closer. The raven closed his eyes with a small "Hn," and just let Naruto warm his chest.

"Um…Sasuke-kun?"

He opened one eye to look at Sakura, who was sitting rather awkwardly on the other end of the sofa.

"Hn?"

"Did…something happen between you and Naruto?" she asked, blushing slightly.

"…No," he answered curtly and closed his eyes again. Sakura didn't need to know anything that was happening in his personal life.

"Oh, okay then."

He couldn't tell if she was convinced; probably not, but then again he wasn't about to lose sleep over it.

Silence settled over the three shinobi, so all that could be heard was the TV playing repeats. Whether anyone was actually watching them was irrelevant; they continued on regardless.

Finally, the long-awaited sound of the door opening was heard. "Ah, that'll be their guardian home!" Sakura said, eager to leave the silence. But before she could move, all the children scrambled up to greet the woman.

"Muuuum!" they chorused gleefully. The plump lady smiled, gathering all the kids in a hug.

Sakura grinned at the sight. They really were good children, and she hoped to have kids like that when she was older. She imagined her and Sasuke surrounded by happy children: there'd be three, two girls and a boy that resembled his father so much it was striking. Sasuke would walk in through the door and his children would happily scramble into his arms, as Sakura looked on with an amused smile. They'd kiss and talk about their day, then send the children to bed and talk for hours.

But where was Naruto? He could never leave their lives, after all. She tried to paint him in, as Sasuke's best friend that came round for a drink occasionally. Wait, no, that's not right. She frowned. Sasuke and Naruto had always been the closest out of Team 7. He could never third wheel Sasuke and Sakura like that.

The only way Sakura could imagine Naruto was if she and Sasuke weren't together…

She gave a small cough, shaking the thought from her head and turned her attention to the blonde ninja sleeping on Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun, you better wake him up, we need to get going."

Sasuke opened both eyes this time, and looked first at Sakura, and then at Naruto, who was snuggled up against his chest, looking undeniably adorable.

"It's fine. I'll take him home; no need to wake him up," he told her, and then with a small grunt, maneuvered his arms underneath his knees and across his back, like a groom would his bride. Naruto let out a small incomprehensible murmur, but other than that didn't stir.

"Are you sure, Sasuke-kun? I mean, he must be heavy and you don't even have his house keys," Sakura asked warily, unsure of what Sasuke was doing.

"It's fine, Sakura." Her stomach flipped slightly when he said her name. "It's only fair that I let him sleep at my house after last night." As though the blonde weighed nothing, he carried Naruto through the hallway and out the front door. Sakura ran after him.

"Wait, Sasuke-kun!" He stopped and turned his head in her direction grudgingly. "Uh…Don't you think we should wait for Kakashi-senseii? I mean, he really should be the one to tell us we can go home."

"Good point. You wait here and tell him Naruto and I have gone home," he said, and leapt away before she could protest any further.

Sakura stood on the porch, staring at the point where Sasuke had been.

"Hey, Sakura!"

She jumped as a voice appeared next to her.

"O-Oh, Kakashi-senseii," she greeted the jounin. "Naruto and Sasuke-kun have left to go home already."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, but didn't questionher. "Right, well, I suppose I'll sort out the details here; you go on home."

She bowed slightly. "Thank you Kakashi-senseii." She walked home slowly, her mind buzzing with confusion. Something had happened between the two ninjas, she was sure of it. Maybe they'd just become closer, as friends. That was a good thing, she guessed.

Oh well, whatever it is, it's not exactly going to destroy your life. Come on Sakura, just focus on important things, she told herself firmly, and dispelled the thoughts, continuing on to her house.

XXX

"Muh…The only way…is…Essex…" Naruto muttered, the previous reality trash shows still swirling in his dreams. He was half-awake now, but incredibly comfortable wherever he was. His mind didn't want to figure out where he was, but then he unwillingly remembered the mission.

He sprung up, making his head ache and black-and-white swirls appear in his eyes. "Wha…" He rubbed his eyes to get rid of the head-rush and finally looked around. "This isn't happening," he groaned as he recognised the spotless adobe of Uchiha Sasuke. Why had the bastard taken him to his house?

With an incoherent grumble, Naruto flung off the covers. He found his shirt and jumper folded on a chair, as Sasuke had the decency to undress him only halfway. Throwing them on, he walked through the house to where he knew the kitchen (and therefore Sasuke) was.

I know this bastard too well for my own good, Naruto thought as he found Sasuke reading a book at the table, a half empty bowl of noodles in front of him, chopsticks in his left hand.

"Sasuke, why am I at your house?" Naruto growled. So maybe he was being a bit rude, but he'd just woken up (never a good thing), and at Sasuke's house no less.

"You fell asleep and I don't have your keys," the Uchiha said, putting his book down and looking at him.

As plausible as his answer was, Naruto was far from happy. "Well you should've woken me up then. It's not a normal thing for friends to just sleep round each other's houses without permission or warning."

"What about couples?"

Naruto felt pure, harsh anger rage up beneath his skin. "I'm not your boyfriend!" he yelled. Sasuke didn't bat an eyelash, but Naruto saw the pain twinge in his eyes. He breathed. Being angry in this situation wasn't going to help anyone. "I'm sorry…f-for yelling," he added on quickly, lest Sasuke got the wrong idea, "but Sasuke you have to stop this. I'm not fooling around here-"

"Neither am I," Sasuke growled, eyes dangerous.

"Please, Sasuke," Naruto asked, almost pleaded, quietly. "I'm a thirteen-year-old boy ninja. I'm your best friend and I'm not going to go out with you."

Sasuke didn't know any of the foreign swirls of emotions that had made themselves at home in the pit of his stomach, but they weren't nice. He narrowed his eyes and looked to the side. "Sure. That's what you think."

Naruto's right eye twitched. How cocky was this bastard?! He gritted his teeth. "Bye teme, I'm going home."

With a few furious strides, Naruto vacated the Uchiha's spotless house, leaving Sasuke to dwell on his thoughts.

Who does he think he is?! Naruto fumed, walking quickly. Sasuke can't just decide that we're together like that! I don't want it – it's not fair!

He couldn't be bothered to take the long route round to his house; he just needed to be away from that, now! Abandoning the tedious streets, he clambered up a nearby house, losing dexterity in his fingers from the cold.

Upon the top of the house, the cold wind cooled down his face, ruffling his hair and calming his temper. The wind had always been special in a way Naruto couldn't describe.

As he leapt across the rooftops, his anger was gradually stifled, and by the time he reached his house, he realised that, in reality, he had really over-reacted about everything.

He breathed slowly, feeling better after his journey home, then found to his horror that his door was unlocked. "Oh crap. I forgot to lock it," he groaned, opening the frail wooden door, and slamming it shut behind him.

"Naruto."

A yelp escaped the ninja as he swiveled round to see the intruder.

"It's alright; just me!" A familiar voice came from the interloper.

"Iruka-senseii!" Naruto exclaimed, gripping his former teacher in a hug.

"I-It's nice to see you too!" Iruka said, slightly winded from Naruto's bear-hug. He rubbed his neck and chuckled softly.

"Ha ha, sorry!" Naruto grinned sheepishly, loosening his grip.

"You left your door unlocked, you realise," Iruka told him, a frown and warning in his tone. "If you do that again you'll be robbed. It's a good thing I was going to pop in anyway."

"Thanks sensei! I promise I won't forget again!" Naruto grinned wholeheartedly and Iruka smiled. Naruto could be so adorable.

"But anyway, how're you doing?" Iruka prompted, wanting news about Naruto's infamous girlfriend Amaki.

Naruto froze up slightly; he wasn't really doing that well. Could he tell Iruka about his problems?

"Well…" Naruto started hesitantly, sitting down at his small table. The blonde was desperate to share his thoughts about Sasuke and get a second opinion, but there was a part of him that knew he couldn't say everything. "C-Can I tell you something?"

Iruka blinked. "Of course, Naruto. Anytime."

He breathed, mapping out what he needed to say; he would have to word this carefully. "I'm not sure what to do about someone who wants to, uh, take our current…relationship up to a new level."

What? A new level? This has to be Amaki right?Iruka was puzzled but didn't share his doubts. "And…you don't want to?"

"I-I don't know what I think! I really like them, but I've never thought about u-us like this before," Naruto stumbled over his words slightly, trying hard to make sure Iruka didn't catch on completely.

"Well, does it feel wrong to be in this new…level?" Iruka asked awkwardly. He'd given Naruto 'the talk' before, so trusted him to not be stupid about this.

"…No. I guess it freaks me out how right it feels actually," he admitted, the realisation shocking himself. When had it become so normal for Sasuke to act that way? Or maybe it was always like that, and Naruto just hadn't seen it.

"So what are you worried about?"

"That they're just messing about and will drop me first chance they get," Naruto said quietly. Iruka felt his stomach clench, and put a reassuring hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Naruto, you've got to be careful here. Are they trust-worthy?" He gave a slightly squeeze that made Naruto feel better.

"I trust them with my life," he announced sternly and without a doubt. Iruka's surprised hand loosened slightly.

With his life?!

"Then…why do you not trust them now?"I knew Naruto was a trusting person, but this is unbelievable! He's only just met Amaki! How are they so close already? It normally takes years for that kind of bond to be built!

Naruto frowned slightly. "Because…them liking me makes no sense and I can't believe it."

Iruka said nothing for a while and just gazed on. "If they're truly trust-worthy, someone you could call a friend, then I know they won't trick you like that." He knew his words were true; everyone who actually knew Naruto would never hurt him, but it was whether or not Amaki was his friend in the first place…

"You sure?" Naruto asked hesitantly.

"Just establish that she's actually your friend first."

Naruto's heart skipped a bit as Iruka said 'she'. He hated lying to him. "Y-Yeah," he mumbled, the awkwardness of lying catching up to him in an instant.

Iruka didn't catch on though, and just gave his favourite student one final squeeze. "Okay Naruto. I'll leave now; you have a lot to think about."

Naruto barely managed a 'bye'; all his thoughts about Sasuke had just been completely changed. He knew absolutely that Sasuke was a friend, and Iruka had said that if he was sure, he should go ahead with it.

So what was stopping him?

"Eugh, sleep first, thinking second," he groaned, dragging himself to bed and taking off his shirt and jacket wearily.

As he slumped into to bed and snuggled up to the blankets, he realised sleepily that Sasuke's smell was still here. Without thinking about it, he gave the pillow a lazy punch. Then, nuzzled his nose deep into it, taking in every breath of the sweet scent he could, but still refusing to give the black-haired shinobi a thought.

* * *

><p><strong>Remember, reviewers get the next chapter dedicated to them! Thank you so much for your patience, I really hope you liked this chapter, though there was more humour than SasuNaru-y goodness xD<strong>

**Oh and do take a moment to vote on a poll on my page (remember it's anonymous xD).**

**-Hollymist**


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